Bad Teachers?
 

Today, after my chemistry class, I went up to my teacher and asked him how I would find the accepted value for the experiment so I could do the error analysis. He told me that I should be able to figure that out by myself, and promptly left the classroom. The whole reason that I went up to him was that I couldn't figure it out by myself, and was trying to get help. I wasn't asking for a smart remark about how I should be able to figure it out by myself. The fact was that I couldn't, and he didn't help me whatsoever.

This got me thinking that I must not be the only one in the world who has a bad teacher or two. Does anyone want to share their stories of bad teachers?

Oh the stories I could tell. But I doubt anyone would want to read a post THAT long, thus a few choice examples...

In my High school Physics class, first day the teacher was doing an experiment by dropping a book and dropping a piece of paper separately, then asking at what rate the two would drop if dropped one on top of the other. The book on top of the paper was easy; there was no problem in answering. But when he went around the class again, asking about five people opinions on what would happen when the paper was on top, I answered that the paper would fall at the same rate as the book, as long as it was laid flat. He asked how that could be, dropped the paper and book separately again to demonstrate that the book would hit the ground first. He then moved on to another student, hoping for the "correct" answer. Yeah, forty-five minutes the class came back around to my answer, which was now right. When I asked him he said he wanted the class to figure it out and having someone tell the answer right away would have ruined the exercise.

Yeah... This is the same teacher who, later in the year, marked something wrong on my test contradictory to our textbook. Convinced I was right I looked it up and showed the teacher. Apparently the book was wrong, or so I was told. He refused to give me credit for my correct answer.

Then there was my old Child Psychology professor in college who had never heard of C.S. Lewis or the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Seriously, if you deal with children and you haven't at least heard of it then I have my doubts as to your abilities.

A history professor (of the Renaissance and Reformation), for some reason, thought that "Separation of Church and State" was a phrase in the 1st amendment. He wouldn't believe me when I said that the Establishment Clause doesn't use that language. No one else in the class knew one way or the other.

Same teacher, who once again works directly with the period of the Protestant Reformation, was discussing imagery in prints of the period. He looked at one and decided to relate it to the story of "Isaac taking the inheritance of his younger brother, Ebam, from their father Jacob." Please keep in mind that, if nothing else, he should have known about this story since he works with the Reformation (and thus needs at the least a decent knowledge of the bible). I have no idea where he got “Ebam.”

Anywho, enough rants on my part.

Just a ranting,

Thought

On the converse side, one of the best professors I ever had was one who wouldn't completely explain everything in a lab setting. I didn't appreciate it much at the time, but the skills in research and investigation that I eventually develped because he forced us to work out the resoning behind everything ourselves is something that will be of value to me forever.

My Spanish 2 teacher is nothing short of a tyrant.

...No wait, scratch that. ONE thing short of a tyrant: Lack of political power.

She demands that we be prepared for everything, she expects everyone to be in peak condition upon entering class, she's unsympathetic, cold, and has that attitude that makes you want to silence it with something sharp. If a thermonuclear bomb were to go off in the classroom, she'd condemn us in hell for not being prepared for just such an event (The thing is, I'm not sure if that's an exxageration or not...). She has zero tolerance, is absolute in her judgement... just an absolute... GAH.

There's nothing wrong with her teaching ability, but her methods of doing so and attitude while doing so just makes it next to impossible to pay attention long enough to gain anything productive from it...

I have a business major "teaching" me psychology right now. She has absolutly zero grounding in the subject, no notes from a qualified teacher, poor ligustic skills (It's a NUEron, not a NEUTron!), and no teaching ability. Classes are based on her skimming of the text book (which she has told us she doesn't like. Yeah, you know what a psych intro should be like, dumbass), poorly done internet searches (stuff a middle-school teacher wouldn't accept from a student), and stuff she's seen in movies. I have, more than once, showed her specifically in the text book and on printouts that she's absolutely wrong on test answers. I've been told that answers are based on the most prevelant student response.

I don't like Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

My Spanish 2 teacher is like that also. If we're absent because we're sick or what have you, she wants us to call the school or email her to get the homework even though the handbook clearly states that students have days equal to the amount that they were gone to make up the work.

My English teacher last year was stupid. She blatently hated Swordopolis and I for no reason. I think it was because we weren't in Speech/ Debate, because she was the Speech/ Debate coach. Everyone else in that class was in either Speech or Debate, so she favored them. Seriously. They would talk in class, and she would accuse Swordopolis and I for talking. Not to mention it seemed like she hated each and every one of our essays. It's not like I would know though; I have never received a graded paper from her. Ever.

Oh... Man...

My english 9 teacher was a TOTAL BITCH!!!!!
She would literally try to collect homework she said we could do the next day in class. And when we didn't she gave us zero on it. She wouldn't accept homework given a day later by someone who was sick. She thought that unless you were dying you have to hand your homework in on time. Sure, you might think i'm talking about a 80 year old teacher or something, but she was only 26.

Then there was my film & multimedia teacher. I'm not sure if he was just a bad teacher, or the coolest guy ever. Either way, here goes.

He has got to be the biggest stoner i have ever seen. He would leave the classroom saying he had to do some photocopying(and leave with no papers in his hands), then come back half an hour later smelling wierd and eating a huge sandwich. He assigned homework everyday but never collects it(its gotten so we don't even do our homework anymore).

English-9?!?

Devastating.

Well, MY Spanish 2 teacher gives us all commands in Spanish, even though the whole reason for anyone being in the class is that we don't speak Spanish. And no, it isn't words we've been taught, or are even IN the darn book. Apparently, you have to already speak fluent Spanish to pass Spanish class.

Also, my math teacher last year wouldn't take work that was 30 seconds late (as in, you have to dig through your notebook to find it, and got there after everone else had handed in their work).

Edit: Just remembered about my Chem teacher. She was a good teacher, but a little full of herself. The first day we learned about nuclear isotopes, she used most of the class time up giving us a speech about how dangerous nuclear power plants are and that we need to close down every one of them. If memory serves, that was the same day I handed in my 11th grade research paper, whcih was a report in favor of building more nuclear power plants.

Also, one period, for reasons I can't now remember, she gave us a 15-minute rant about how American is too self-absorbed and and is an over-polluting bully. (Just so you know, she was born in Poland and grew up in Canada).

Also, my Biology teacher once handed out pamplets inviting us to a protest to ban dihydrogen monoxide (H2O, or water). I still wonder if she was serious.

11th grade history, 1st semester: The teacher didn't really teach anything. He'd give a lecture on what he wanted your project for this time around to be...the best part about the lecture was that he didn't look at the class when he lectured, he find a place on the back wall to stare at...and then tell you to get to work. The whole class was a series of stupid little projects you had to do.

9th grade science: The guy was just a quack. He tried his hardest to be Bill Nye, but just came across as a moron who had no idea what the heck he was doing and with zero charisma . That and he was just annoying...in bad way.

What do I mean by bad? Well...let me phrase it this way: Some time this year (it's been about five years since he was inflicted upon me), he was arrested for groping a student. :O_o:

College Math 1010: My teacher would do the examples out of the book on the white board...and that's it. He didn't really answer questions, he didn't explain how to do the stuff the examples didn't cover, he just did the examples from the book. My cousin so happened to be in that class with me, and between the two of us, we found one person who passed that class.

10th grade Drivers Ed: My drivers ed teacher was the worst driver I have ever seen. It doesn't fill you with confidence when he comes screaming into the parking lot in his big pick-up truck doing 50 mph over speed bumps. Nice guy....but I wouldn't drive with him if my life depended on it.

EDIT:

Oh, yeah!

Spanish II (9th grade, 1st semester): Now, remember...we're ninth graders coming off of summer.

On the first day, the teacher comes in, and stars talking in spanish at 9 trillion miles per hour. The entire class is sitting there in stupidified shock, wondering what the heck this woman is saying. After five minutes of talking non-stop spanish, she finally stops and says "What did I just say?"

Class: "..."

We then proceed to get chewed out because we didn't understand what she said.

Lather, rinse, and repeat for one semester.